Btw, have you considered a drum machine? I'm all for drums in Eurorack, but three voices might be to limited.
Btw, have you considered a drum machine? I'm all for drums in Eurorack, but three voices might be to limited.
Maybe consider a multiple module somewhere? (E.g. replace the Vowel module with the 2hp Mult module.) Can be very useful to multiply some of the modulation signals.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that your case need to support the depth of the modules. E.g. the Behringer Go case is very shallow, so it won't fit deep modules (I think it's about 30-35mm deep).
Generally you want to spread out your buys, and start from a corner with the essentials. This way you can alter your plans as you learn more about your gear.
What you start with depends on what you already have, and the bare minimum to get something going. That probably means you need to start with power and one or more voice.
Do you have a sequencer available? If not, the Pam's probably a must. (You probably want the Pam anyway though, it's very useful.)
What other sources of sounds do you have? Can it be combined with eurorack? (Some synths provide CV points.) Maybe you could start with one Drum2 and either the A-111-6 or the Beehive, depending on which you like best, but it really depends on what you already have.
Do you have a mixer, and does it handle the level of audio coming from eurorack (it's high compared to most other synths)?
You probably want an effect module too, and the FX Aid should go a long way there. It's not essential, but gives you lot more options.
Hope this gives you some ideas ^_^
Impressive how much you're able to get into 104hp! I don't own any of the modules myself (except Pams), but in terms of their functionality it should deliver what you want.
My only thought is that I would've liked a bigger knob for the filter; I'm thinking of a DJ-like filter where clockwise is high pass and anti-clockwise is low pass - it's a cheap and effective way of creating interesting transitions in your music.
That said, maybe that doesn't fit your style. Should be a interesting setup nevertheless (I think the Matrix mixer and the Mimeophon could be quite good) ^_^
If you want to tuck away power cables, you can consider a power supply that's inside the rack. It's a bit more hassle than just buying something like a uZeus though.
And remember to always double-check that the power consumption requirements (at the bottom of your rig) is supported by the power supply. I read somewhere that it's good to have 10-15% "free" capacity, but I'm no expert on this.
Have you considered an external sequencer? I have an Oxi One mk1 which I'm extremely happy with ^_^
Also, I think you should consider some modulation sources, like LFOs. Pam's Pro, which is part of @noodle_hut setup, is a great utility for this.
You might also be interested to look into low pass gates (I'm personally a fan of LxD here) to combine with the various audio outputs from your Mother-32 and Labyrinth, and might even a submixer to combine multiple audio signals together (I have the A-135-2 for my Mother-32).
That said, you're on a great start, starting with semi modular synths are a great way to get into Eurorack, and with the pedals as effects you should have a lot of options audio-wise ^_^
Hi all, I ended up making a song around a talk by Alan Watts, where he talks about randomness and coincidences.
The song started with an audio sample from Clinamen, an art installation where ceramic bowls of various size float in a large pool, and when they collide they create these wonderful sounds. (Thanks to Kevin Luce and freesound.org.)
I wanted to pair these with a bit more randomness, and created a patch with Pam's Pro Workout, Turing Machine + Pulses, and Rample. It created another layer of random percussion sounds, albeit a bit more frequent than that of Clinamen.
(The rack where I made all of the drum and bass sounds.)
The bass consists of a couple of sounds as well. One starts with La Reine du Chaos, which goes through a Samvær Under Tilsün LPG, and then through cDVCA for filter and drive. The other bass starts with Collide 4, where the monitor output goes to a Steve's MS-22 for a bit of filtering magic.
I also added some hihats using HATS808 and Mutant Hi-Hats, which is run with a simple sequence from Steppy. The kick is Ultra-Kick, running a sequence from the Oxi One mk1.
There's a bit of textural sounds coming from the Collide 4, going through Rainmaker for some delay magic. It's barely noticeable, but it's there.
All of the sounds in the drum machine is side-chained with Ghost and Scrat. The latter has an especially nasty saturation, which I love to layer with my drum and bass sounds.
There's a final patch with the Oxi Coral, that is fueled with a generative sequence from the Oxi One. The output of the Coral goes through Oneiroi and Clouds, for various effects. This setup is where I mostly turned knobs to create a bit more variations throughout the talk.
The talk is from a video I found online, which I ran through stem splitting in Ableton Live to extract the vocals. It's long, but I enjoyed it and the themes he talked about, so wanted to allow it its full length.
I usually upload my songs to SoundCloud, but due to the length of this one I decided to make a video out of it instead. I made it using nw_wrld, an open-source project by Daniel Aagentah.
Hope you all enjoy it ^_^
I made a new song that I want to share ^_^
This started with a lucky accident with the Collide 4 and Rainmaker, with a bit of random goodness from the OCHD extension. I cranked it up with Ghost and added a bunch of reverb to it, and it resulted in a semi-random white-noise-clickity sound.
I paired this with a Equator2, a soft-synth, that I fed a generative sequence from Oxi One. On top of this came another semi-random sequence, fueling the Oxi Coral.
To back all of this randomness up I added a couple of bass presets from Equator2 and Serum 2.
It was a fun little thing to make, hope you enjoy ^_^
Thank you ^_^
I'm mainly using Oxi One as main sequencer for the drums, but I also use Steppy as sequencer for hihats (I have Mutant Hihats and Hats808). I could run everything through Oxi One, but I like "outsourcing" hihats to Steppy.
This is the current state of the drum machine that I'm developing. As it stands, I usually don't need Steppy, but I plan to add more drum sounds in the future, at which point it's good to have "freed" the handling of four gate signals away from the main sequencer.
Hi all, just wanted to share my latest creation, which used some eurorack modules ^_^
It started with a combo of the Turing Machine and its extension, Volts, leading into the Penrose Quantizer, and finally into one of the main oscillators in the Solar 42f. After playing around a bit, I found a sequence that became the foundation of the song.
Adding to this was a generative patch using the Oxi One, which I played on the Oxi Coral. Both of these patches were mixed with Clouds to add some granular details.
After figuring out the melodic base, I added some beats using Ultra-Kick and Collide 4 mainly, but with some percussion elements from Rample and hihats from Hats808 and Mutant Hihats.
These elements created a melodic groove which I then layered with some software synths in Ableton Live, using Serum 2 and Decent Sampler to add some longer sounds that tie it all together.
Hope you enjoy it ^_^
Hi all, made a song this week that I thought I would share here. I think it's a techno song, but I'm unsure what label to apply to it. It's mostly DAWless, and utilizing some eurorack modules.
An important module for this song was the Rainmaker. Combined with the Collide 4 I was able to create a groove that sustained throughout the song. I also had a lot of fun with the Oxi Coral, which I fed a semi-random stream of notes, creating a bit of variation.
I also had fun adding the Solar 42f to the song. It provides both a textural drone-sound in the background; for this part I'm using the Turing Machine module, extended with the Pulses module, which sends a stream of gate-messages to the oscillators on the Solar. I also utilized the five-step sequencer with one of the main oscillators, creating an interesting, near-bassy sound that became important for the crescendo of the song.
I also used Serum 2 for the longer sounds at the end. The preset I used had good macros, so I simply automated them with some LFOs to create more interesting timbres.
Hope you enjoy it ^_^
I composed a song this weekend using a mix of analog and digital synthesizers.
I enjoyed the combo of Lyra-8 + Collide-4 for bass and a gnarly kick and a newly released sample library for Kontakt featuring the Hardanger fiddle and a mouth harp. I also sprinkled a little harmonious backup using the Equator2 and Solar 42f on top as well.
Hope you enjoy ^_^
Hi all, I made a song after playing around on the Elmyra, finding some bassy drone sounds that I accompanied with some Solar 42f and Chromaplane. It's minimalistic, a bit dreamy, and I hope you like it ^_^
Hi all, made a song this week that I wanted to share ^_^
I've been enjoying experimenting with the Chromaplane, the latest addition to my home studio. After coming across a very nice arpeggio on the Solar 42f, I wanted to pair it up with some longer, more noisy sounds from the Chromaplane. This became the result of it, with some added pads and bass as well ^_^
For those interested in the modules: an important module in this song was the Acabus (a Maths clone), which I used a couple of LFOs to generate some envelopes that modulated the filter and the delay of the Chromaplane. The audio output of the Chromaplane was then routed through Lyra-8 for some extra weird delays and gritty drive, and then through cDVCA for filtering and even more gritty drive.
I've been thinking about expanding my home studio with some preamp- and EQ-modules, and thought I would share my thinking here, in case I've forgotten something obvious, or should consider other alternatives.
To give a bit of context: My home studio consists of various Eurorack modules, synthesizers and a laptop running Ableton Live. All go into patchbay where I duplicate the audio signals into A and B; A goes into a 10-track mixer with 12 channels (two of the tracks are stereo), and B goes into ES-9 (except the audio from the laptop - I don't need to record this separately). The sum of the mixer is then recorded using Focusrite 2i2 3rd gen.
This means I end up recording 2 channels of wet stereo from the mixer (as the mixer have an Aux channel that sends to a reverb pedal), and up 10 dry channels (in the sense that they haven't been mixed with the reverb pedal), resulting from the 9 remaining tracks after removing the track for the laptop.
A problem with the current setup is that the ES-9 is designed for audio from Eurorack modules, so instruments that send Line signals will be low. This hasn't been a to big of a problem for me, as I've limited myself to only use these single tracks to "back up" certain parts of the mix (to enhance certain parts, etc). But it's been an annoyance, and I've decided that I want to try to find a solution.
Another part of the context is the form factor that I want to use for this: I used to have a DFAM that I sadly lost because of a drunken mistake during a jam (sidenote: you should always label your power cords), but I still use its case to house various modules. It fits very neatly next to the mixer, it houses the ES-9 currently, and I would like to continue using it as rack for this solution. So that means one row of 60hp.
After some iterations I've ended up with the following:
With this setup I can boost and adjust EQ for 12 channels. The limitation is that only 4 channels can be individually adjusted, so the remaining 8 are probably best used for stereo, which is ok for me. The idea is to have all tracks (except the stereo channel used by the laptop) be routed through the various preamps and EQs (the laptop will go "directly" to the mixer via the main outputs of the ES-9) to the patchbay, where the signals are duplicated, one going back to the ES-9 and the other into the mixer (which also returns a stereo channel to the ES-9).
Granted, signals coming from Eurorack modules directly won't have much need for the gain modules, so I could drop some there, but I'm ok with having some redundant modules from time to time if that means that the final design is simpler to comprehend.
I also think I need to boost the signal coming from the mixer (something the 2i2 handles for me today), so the left-most BaxandallEQ is designated the sum-signal from the mixer. Alternatively I could still use the 2i2 for this, but I would like to free up this for other purposes.
An alternative to this is to go with something much simpler, like the Focusrite 18i20. The drawback of this is that if I want to have 12 channels (to match the mixer) I would have to buy an extension. (That said, it would probably still be cheaper than the solution above.) But I would not get the EQ-functionality, and in the solution above all channels have their own gain knob, which I appreciate.
Again, I appreciate any feedback. I recognize my setup can be somewhat confusing, but I hope I was able to convey how it works, and how I would like it to work ^_^
Edit 1: Added some context regard the size of the rack.
Hey all, made another song over the last couple of days. Enjoy ^_^
Continuous Shimmer by megoth on SoundCloud
Have been enjoying the Rample a lot these last couple of weeks, as it has provided a lot of ideas for various patches. Samples provided the foundation, but the Oxi Coral just took it away when I was jamming. I also decided to add another layer with Equator2, an excellent MPE softsynth.
Hey all ^_^ Just wanted to share this little song I made over the week, just noodling around on my hardware synths, and then post-producing and -mixing on Live.
Little Ghost by megoth on Soundcloud
I've enjoyed going down the DAW-less route for a while, but it's always nice to combine it with the digital world and the opportunities it provide.
For those interested in the modules: I've been playing around with the factory sounds on the Rample, finding sounds that inspire me to "embellish" more sounds from other sources onto them. So to with this one. Ultra-Kick and Hats808 also helps with drums, and Solar 42f, Coral and Pluck provide additional sounds. Clouds and Rainmaker provides effects for the Coral, as well as filter and distortion from cDVCA, and delay and even more distortion from Lyra-8.
Realized there's a section to the left of me in my "home studio" that's prime real estate for a rack. It provides a maximum size of 9u x 124hp:
The modules can be split into three categories:
Some other considerations: I've positioned Pipe and the WK3 Midi Thru modules to the right so that they connect with the overall layout of my home studio and provide CV and midi for the overall rack.
I've also included ADDAC511 because I believe it can provide some interesting CV signals to introduce a bit of controlled randomness to the rack.
I think the rest of the modules are self-explanatory, but please ask if you have any questions. I'm somewhat new to this, and might forget obvious things. I should also point out that this is probably not where I'll end up, but I hope it brings up some interesting ideas ^_^
(And there are probably a lot cheaper options than this, I know, but I think this could be a fun synth to build, even though it will take me years, so I'm ok with the prices.)
Had some fun with my newest module today, the Rample, and wanted to check out the sample banks that were created by The Flashbulb. It ended up as a song ^_^
https://on.soundcloud.com/XWaXhHJnYCDbncmX6
For those interested in the gear: The Rample is accompanied by the Hats808 and mixed with Ghost for a dash of effects, most importantly delay and reverb. The Ultra-Kick provides, well, kicks, and I make sure to side-chain it to the other instruments.
Solar 42f provides the simple melody in the background, as well as some bassy voices. To help with bass I also used Equator2, a MPE soft synth that I play using a Seaboard. Atop of this are Coral and Pluck, which provide some "bleepy" sounds. I use the M185 as sequencer for the latter modules, but patch the one going to Coral through Penrose Quantizer to make sure only specific notes are hit.
To control all of this I have the Oxi One, which communicate with the various parts using midi and cv. All of the instruments (except the kick) are heavily mixed with a reverb pedal.
Just in case you haven't found him yourself yet, Omri Cohen has some good videos with tips and tricks for generative music. I think this playlist should be of interest, but I recommend checking out more of his videos.
I can't find it on MG, but reckon the Math Gate should be of interest:
Maybe something like this?
This is somewhat basic, but I think it should give you a good starting point for producing generative music with eurorack ^_^
@wishbonebrewery thanks for the suggestion. I'm using Ghost in my current drum rack, and a bit of reverb (and delay) can indeed enrich the upper percussions nicely. I've been thinking of how to include Ghost in the concept in this thread, but it haven't been important enough for the space it requires.
I should also note that I have a "global" reverb, i.e. a reverb pedal that I've connected to my mixer's AUX, so I can mix it in with any of the channels. The only drawback with this setup is that I usually need to reroute my kick drum to another channel in the global mixer, so for that reason I might include something like the 2hp Verb. I'll keep it in mind ^_^
After reading up on some of the modules, I've created another iteration:
Most notably is that I've taken out the Metron sequencer and Mutant Clap, swapped out the Performance Mixer for Cosmix Pro, re-added the Scrooge, and added Scrat and Messor.
The Numeric Repetitor and Traffic (thanks for the suggestion, looks really interesting) will help with rhythm generation. Scrooge can help with sequencing as well (I've added a 4hp blank panel as stand-in for Della next to it), and of course Pam's can help with sequencing as well. The Numeric Repetitor is a module I already own, and I'm glad that it found it's place into this rack. I think it could be a very interesting module to combine with Traffic and DPLPG.
Cosmix Pro "only" has six channels (and only two are stereo), so I had to take out one of the drums. Mutant Clap was the one that I was least interested in, but it "solved" a problem I had: I really want Mutant Hihats, and it's 13hp... those odd numbered modules can be frustrating =P So when I discovered Scrat, which is 9hp, it solved that problem, in addition to sounding really awesome. It might be awkward to have two filters, but I think Steve's and Scrat both bring enough to the table. Also, I agree that the clap can be handled by Rample, so out it went.
And again, thanks for suggesting the Messor, I think it will work very nicely as a glue compressor for the whole rack ^_^
I appreciate all the feedback - there's a lot of modules that I'll read up on, the drum machine will evolve more before it's final state, that's for sure (if there even is such as thing as "complete" with eurorack systems =P )
There's a lot of modulation in the second iteration for sure, and I wouldn't end up with such a beast in the real world, as I would buy it piece by piece over a long time, and would find the soft spot long before something like this. That said, I could probably skip half of the mirrored modules and still have enough. And I do enjoy the use of 1U-modules that was suggested earlier, so I did another iteration, this time with 7u + 104hp:
I swapped the Performance Mixer mk2 with mk1, as it is much smaller, and should be enough for this set of modules. I like this setup, but just so it's explicitly said: I probably won't end up with this. I plan to buy modules one by one over a long time, and interests will change with experience and research, so who knows where I'll end up. That's part of the fun with modular synth for me ^_^
I might throw out Metron altogether, as it is quite big for such a case, and rely on the Oxi One as sequencer for drums. With the freed up space I could add back Pam's, which could handle the work of handling accents (thanks for the advice, hadn't thought of that), hell, I might even add back Scrooge (I'm fond of the idea of the other drum modules handling "traditional" electro drum sounds, and the Scrooge just adding chaos and cool details) and their new extension, Della, and use Scrooge as the off-load sequencer. But I just saw Cinematic Laboratory's video on it, so I need to understand it better first (hopefully it will be added to MG soon).
All to say - who knows where I'll end up wrt the drum machine. The exploration is part of the fun, and thanks again for the feedback, it gives me even more ideas ^_^
Another iteration done, would love to hear what you think ^_^
I've removed the Scrooge and introduced a bunch of modules to handle CV generation and modulation. Most notably I've introduced Pamela's Pro Workout, mainly to a) handle clock manipulation, and b) as a LFO module, but there's probably a lot more I can use it for. There are more LFOs, a couple of S+H modules, and a couple of 3x MIA to mix some interesting CV signals. There are probably more things I could add (like switches - I'm not too familiar with them, but I'll research more on their uses), but I think these changes should bring a lot of possibilities.
Hi all, thanks for your replies. You've convinced me that I should add more modulation modules. I'll revise the design and come back when I have an update ^_^
Just wanted to give some more context, to paint a better picture so to say, and to reply more concretely to some of the feedback.
Pulsar-23 it's definitely an interesting choice. I already own the Lyra-8, and in "money's no limit"-land (aka fantasy world) I'd have a Pulsar-23 and Ornament-8 as well. In fact, if money were no limit, I would buy Pulsar-23 and build a drum machine with eurorack modules, just because it sounds like a bunch of fun. Completely overkill, I know, and there are probably other, more efficient ways of producing music, but it sounds like a bunch of fun.
Wrt using only the Oxi One sequencer: I'm planning to have multiple racks covering various functions, and the idea is that the Oxi One can step in as a sequencer in all of them, but for the drum machine I want to have an additional sequencer to offload the "main sequencer". I have this setup in my Suitcase rack, using the M185 sequencer to handle some of my sequencer needs, and the Oxi One for the rest. I've watched some videos of people using the Metron module, and it looks very good for drum modules, and more importantly, it looks like fun ^_^
I do have 1U modules in the suitcase, and I agree they are very handy, so I'll consider switching out the drum machine case for something with 1U modules as well. I chose the Eurorack Go rack because it fits neatly into what space I have available in my home studio, but I'm aware of the problems with Behringer, so I'll take that into consideration as well.
Just to give some ideas of the current setup of my racks:
In addition, as mentioned, I also have a Solar 42F, which I use mostly for drones, textures, and "background" noises. (I also use Lyra-8 for drones sometimes, especially the bassy, gritty sounds are awesome, but I find it a bit hard to control, so most of the time I use it for the effects.)
I want to add another case at some point, about same size as the planned drum machine, to facilitate a bit more spacious and "out there" modules, such as Deckard's Voice, Collide 4, and Oneiroi (for those interested, you can see the current state of this idea here - but note that it's very much a work in progress, and it will need to offer more modulation features as well).
At some point I'm thinking of buying a big rack, something like the Erica Synths Megarack, but that's waaaaaaay into the future. Who knows, maybe my interest in eurorack will fade before I get there. (All of these expansions are going to take me years, so this is nothing that's going to happen anytime soon.)
Also, in case it's relevant: I'm not a professional musician, I do this on my spare time. The music I make is mostly leaning into ambience, but I also enjoy more "harder" styles from time to time (e.g. techno).
Yeah, it's an expensive hobby, but it's a ton of fun ^_^
I'm thinking of buying a Behringer Eurorack Go (2x140hp), and it's primary function is being a drum machine. Currently I only have two of the modules (Ultra-Kick, Pipe), so I'm very open for suggestions on other modules people might recommend. Also, this is probably waaaaaay overkill, but I think it could be a very fun and powerful system, which is the end goal ^_^
To give a bit more context: the rack will have two adjacent systems, which can provide some functions such as various effects (not sure which), LFOs, VCAs, and mults, but apart from that this system should be mostly self-sufficient.
Some thoughts on the modules:
I know I probably should have more attenuaters and voltage manipulation modules in general. And the Scrooge will probably go in later iterations, as it takes a lot of space. But I really like the sounds it make (from what I've heard on YouTube), and I've grown quite fond of its sibling, the Elmyra 2, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it.
This is my first post in this forum, so apologies if I've forgotten to cover anything vital. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll try to answer ^_^